> Only a few people are legally allowed to hunt for Thames garnets—or even remove them if they find them by chance. Mudlarks are among the few who are legally permitted to remove items from the riverbanks. To be a mudlark, you need a license, and in recent years, the British government suspended the issuing of new licenses for several years following a boom in applications during the pandemic lockdowns, leaving the already tight-knit mudlark community in a holding pattern.

Well, that's something new I learned today. I wonder why they have to be licensed?

In my mind, "gems" is pronounced "games", just to mess with foreigners.

Not these gems but my son and I hunted for and found a couple of 19th century single use pipes and part of a brick with a cool logo a couple of years ago. Go to the Tower Bridge, there are stairs to go to the shore right next to it. Good hunting!

I highly recommend the museum of London. Probably days worth of stuff to see in there, and you can buy a ticket that allows return visits within a year. Best spot for garnets (for those with a permit, naturally) : Bankside Foreshore near the Tate Modern.

I would like to see some of the faceted garnets found. The ones in the pictures all look natural to me.

Looks like British museum is not only place to get stolen items

So the UK gatekeeps scrounging.